Iafallo ends long scoring drought as Winnipeg Jets dump Blues 4-2 for 4th straight win

The Winnipeg Jets beating a Central Division foe is as close to a sure bet as there is in the NHL this season.

The Jets continued their strong divisional play Tuesday night, taking down the St. Louis Blues 4-2 to improve their record within the Central to 16-3-1, the best mark for any NHL squad against teams within their division this season.

The Jets got on the board first at the 8:53 mark when Nikolaj Ehlers got the puck along the boards in the Blues end, skated down the wall and fed a perfect pass to Sean Monahan in the slot. He wired it past Winnipegger Joel Hofer to make it 1-0 with his sixth goal since joining the team.

Just 87 seconds later, Brenden Dillon made it 2-0 when a faceoff was won back to him and he ripped a slapshot that beat Hofer clean from the point, setting a new career-high with his seventh goal of the season.

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The Blues answered back only 30 seconds later. With Winnipeg scrambling to track down the puck in their own end, Marco Scandella sent a shot on goal from the point. Laurent Brossoit got a glove on it but the puck trickled to the side of the crease where Pavel Buchnevich was waiting to pot his 23rd of the season.

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Winnipeg restored the two-goal lead with 4:27 to go. Josh Morrissey made a great play in his own end to turn the puck over and send it ahead to a streaking Kyle Connor. He skated down the wing and beat Hofer low for his 24th of the season to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.

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The Blues cut into the deficit just shy of the midway point of the second period. A mad scramble in front of the Jets net resulted in Brandon Saad whacking the loose puck off the crossbar and it fell just inside the goal line to make it 3-2.

Both goalies were busy in the second with St. Louis outshooting Winnipeg 15-12 for a two-period total of 27 shots for the Blues and 25 for the Jets.

Each team had a failed power play chance in the first half of the third period as Winnipeg clung to their one-goal lead, but just past the midway point they restored their two-goal advantage.

Ehlers made a great move in the slot and fired the puck wide but after it bounced off the end-boards, it trickled back in front of the net where Alex Iafallo whacked it between the legs of Hofer for his first goal since Jan. 2, ending a run of 20 straight games without finding the back of the net.

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The Blues pulled the goalie with just over three minutes left and it became a 6-on-4 with 41 seconds left when Neal Pionk was called for a high-sticking penalty, but St. Louis couldn’t find the back of the net.

Brossoit picked up his ninth win of the season, making 36 saves while Hofer took the loss after stopping 28 shots.

The Jets will now hit the road for a huge tilt in Dallas Thursday night.